A talented Crieff artist is in line for a top prize for one of her watercolour paintings.

Janet Melrose has been shortlisted for the prestigious Sunday Times Watercolour Competition for her work ‘Following Tracks’.

She is in the running for a £10,000 prize and her painting will be exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London next month.

Janet, who lives and works in the Strath capital, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to reach the shortlist for this competition.

“It’s great to be taking part in a challenge like this and wonderful to have my work exhibited in such a great and well-established venue as the Mall Galleries.”

The competition, which is in its 29th year, offers the largest prize for contemporary watercolour painting in the UK.

It aims to celebrate brilliance and innovation in the medium through abstract, figurative, contemporary or traditional painting.

A total of 53 paintings have been selected by a panel of judges for the final, with a first prize of £10,000, second prize of £6,000, and third prize of £1,500 on offer.

It is the first time Janet has entered the contest and she told the Herald she was prompted to do so after her elder daughter, Aimee, had a dream about her mother winning an arts prize.

She said: “She told me she’d had a dream where I was the winner of a prize for one of my paintings.

“We had a bit of a laugh about it but then the next day an email came in inviting entries for the Sunday Times Watercolour competition.

“I look at these competitions a lot and sometimes I enter. Sometimes I think I’ve got no chance but this one grabbed my attention and I decided to go for it.”

Janet had just finished a large watercolour entitled ‘Following Tracks’, which is based on her experiences during a winter walk through the woods near Comrie.

She explained: “I collect objects during my walks and make notes and when I come back to my studio I lay them out, reflect on what I’ve found and make connections between the different elements before putting my ideas down on paper.”

The painting was the perfect size for the competition so Janet sent off a digital image and was pleased and surprised to make it through the first round of judging.

She then had to send the painting to London for the next round and was delighted to make it all the way to the final group selected for shortlisting from the original thousands of entries.

The winners of the competition will be published in the Sunday Times on August 28.

The finalists’ work will be on display from September 19-24 at the Mall Galleries. They will then go on tour to venues across the UK, including the Parabola Arts Centre in Cheltenham and the Guildford House Gallery in Guildford.